Le Jules Verne

Design and construction of an office building

Concept

Situated in proximity to the A86 motorway leading into Paris, this outwardly restrained building hides an inner secret. The rectangular plan looks inward on an oval void running through the building, and open to the sky, much in the style of an ‘atrium’. A cleft in the main façade, forms a monumental opening, indicating the main entrance to the building, and providing transparency and light to the elliptical courtyard within. This external space, at the heart of the project, is landscaped and arranged as a multi-purpose area for meeting or relaxation.

Program

The 9-storey building contains offices in the upper floors, and has a company restaurant, conference rooms and store rooms on the first basement level. A further three underground levels provide parking.

Access to the building is made via the two main halls to the north and south, marked by an architectural ‘fissure’ in the facades and aligning with a footbridge spanning the inner court. Lifts, accessible from the outside roads, link the main halls with secondary halls serving all floors. The restaurant and meeting rooms on the first basement level open directly onto the atrium’s landscaped patio.